Method of making wheels, and resulting wheel.



W. C. & J. W. JOHNSON.

METHOD 0E MAKING WHEELS, AND RESULTING WHEEL. APPLIOATIOH FILED JAN.2, 1913.

J wm. Cq/znavz d mu y Jkz ZU Johnson iff W* UNITED STATES 0F BRAINTREE, AND JOHN' W. JOHNSON, OF BOSTON, MASSA- STEEL XVHEELS CORPORATION, OF BOSTON PATENT OFFICE.

MASSACHUSETTS, A CORPORATION OF MAINE.

METHOD MAKING WHEELS, AND RESULTING WHEEL.

To all whomi't may concern Be it known that we,` VILLIAM C. JOHN- soN and JOHN W. JoHNso, citizens of the United States, and residents, respectively, ofBraintree, in the county of Norfolk and State of Massachusetts, and of Boston, in the county of Suffolk and State of Massachusetts, have invented an' Improvement in Methods of Making Wheels, and Resulting lVheels, of which the following description, in connection with the accompanying drawings, is a specification, like letters on the drawings representing like parts.

The present invention relates to the production of integral cast `wheels especially adapted for trucks and the like. The desirability of suchY a wheel from the standpoint of strengthand cheapness of manufacture has long 'been recognized but it has not been considered practicableheretoore to produce cast-iron or steel wheels in solid castings for the reason that the internal stresses caused by unequalv cooling and irregular shrinkage of the cast. metal has tended to localize such greatstrains at vital points especially where the spokes join the hub and rim, that these points in cooling, beyond the critical point yso that they would be fragile and easily broken in use.

The. present invention has to do especially with a manner of producing a cast wheel wherein these diliculties are avoided by devising a construction which permits a kind of self-equalization and taking up of the shrinking stresses so that these are evenly distributed and dissipated, and the loss from cracking spokes reduced to a negligible one; the improved Wheel also having the advantage of great structural strength and sta bility.

' tour of a wheel having two oppositely inclined sets of spokes, to each other, joining the rim relation' and joining the hub spaced farther apartiwhereby cracking of the spokes on coolingisavoided, since adjacent spokes do not pull directly against each otherin the same plane but exert their drawing in force ori the rim; in spaced apart planes so that a staggered in relation the spokes of the two sets Specification of Letters Patent. Application led January 2, 1913.

l relative taking the spokes would either crack at i or would be strained To these ends one prominent feature oi? in substantially spaced apart Patented Aug. 18 1914. Serial No. 739,639.

up between the hub and rim is permitted, it being of courseunderstood that the actual extent of the shrinkage is one which while hardly noticeable is still sutlicient to unduly strain or crack some of the spokes when no adequate relieving provision is made. i'iiethod of our invention the wheel is evolved from the complete contour thus produced by machining-the casting to finished form in any usual or suitable way.

A further important feature of the invention has to do with a hollow form of rim, coperating with the special spoke-arrangement to still further insure even and equalized shrinkage on cooling, and also specially adapted to receive holding bolts or like means for securing tires or treads to the wheel. The hollow 'rim is preferably formed of an arched box section combining 'very great strength with lightness. l The above and other objects and features of 'the' invention will be better understood from the following detailed description taken in connection with the accompanying drawings and will be thereafter pointed ont in the appended claims. y y

vReferring to the drawings, Figure 1 is `an elevation of a wheel formed -in accordance with our invention, tioned away; Fig. 2 is a view mainly in section on `line 2--2 of Fig. 1; and Fi 3 is a fragmentary section on'linel 3-3 o Fig. 1. In the practice of our invention we pro- Iii accordance with theV a part being secf duce the complete wheel contour by a single casting operation in a speciallyI designed moldy which mold, however, forms no part of the present invention), this wheel enibracing a hub 10, a wide hollow rim 11 and two oppositely inclined sets of spokes 12, 13. The spokes of these two sets alternate with each other,` about .the wheel and the two sets join the rirn` in substantially spaced apart planes as indicated at 14 in Fig. 2, joining the hub spaced still farther apart asseen at-15 by reason of their oppositely inclined diverging relation .in an inward direction. By virture of this arrangement as the mass cools and gradually hardens in the casting operation, the accompanying shrinkage is permitted without' undue stress or tensioni on any individual spoke for` the reason that adjacent spokes Id o not pull directly y against each other Slme plane at the `web struts joining the rin and hub, but in planes enough apart so thaty the small take-up for' self adjustment or compensation necessary can be accomplished by an imperceptible distortion of the rim and hub portions especially the former, it being understood that this action takes place mostly at or near the critical point when the metal is still near the molton state and relatively soft and yielding This self adjustment o the wheel structure to the shrinkage stra-ins is further provided Jfor and permitted by the hollow Jform of the rim. Thus the drawing in shrinkage ot the spokes is not exerted to its full extent on the entire mass of the rim but mainly on the inner relatively thin wall or web 16 thereof, which is capable of the minute distortion in question in its relatively plastic state without any injury or damage to any part whatever.

Vile are aware that it has been proposed heretofore to cast wheels with two sets ot spokes joining the rim in a. single plane, but we have found that by spacing the two sets apart a mibstantial distance at the rim as well as at the hub, along with the oppositely inclined relation, that the cracked spokes very greatly reduced as compared with previous constructions of which we have knowledge. `We desire however also to emphasize the importance oi' the hollow arched box rim as contributing to the most successful results in this particular. This rim et a hollow arched box section is, however, not onlv important in avoiding the disastrous results from shrinkage stresses, and providing kan exceptionally strong yet light rim, but it has a further important function of permitting fastening means to be readily applied Jior holding the usual quick demountable tires or treads in place. l't will be understood that with a solid cast iron rim it would be a difficult problem to mouilit holding bolts for the tire so that they would be out ot' the way and where they would not act as mud catchers, and at the same time be in position to effectively hold the tire; this for the reason that with a tlat tread wheel it is impracticable to drill through the great mass ot cast iron or steel to ma ke a bolt hole through a wide rim, and itthe tread be concave or of channel Jform the bolt would pass through the hollow space in the way of the tire. With the hollow box section rim of our invention, however, it is readily practicable to mount the holding bolts in exactly the proper position by merely drilling through the thin sides ot' the rim at intervals as seen at i7 to provide passages for bolts 18 that in place on the dat rim, these boltshaving any usual or suitable holding clips. To i'iuri ther strengthen the arched box section of the rim we preferably form therein at intervals inner and outer percentage ot are to hold the tiresides oi2 thc box section and mutually interbracing them. These web struts 19 thus a'ct as a column support to the center or arch portion otl the web i6 serving to prevent collapse or crushing in ot the comparatively thin arch by the loads and impacts thereon. rlhese web struts also have a useful function in the casting operation since they a'llord an intermediate" channel through which' the molten metal may flow from the base to the arch, the feeding heads leading preferably to the outer periphery of the rim. The spokes of the wheel are shown as hollow and are preferably of oval cross section. There is a peculiar significance in the oval form of spoke with the present integral cast construction, Ator the reason that during the cooling process the oval form of our spoke provides a means for taking care of the shrinkage ensuing-was the. shrinkage pressure is greater through the narrower axis or [iatwise and less through the longer axis giving rise to acompression on the interior sand core so that the spoke is actually less thick after cooling than the pattern provided for. This shows that the very form of the oval spoke in itself cares for the unequal stresses and strains set up during the cooling process whereas cylindrieally formed hollow spokes as hitherto made have cracked owing to the .tact that a "cylinder cannot collapse upon itself and the cooling processes give rise to internal stresses and strains which its cylindrical form cannot dissipate. One ofthe sets of spokes has formed integral therewith a torque band 2O intermediate of the length of the spokes and which serves to mutually inter-brace them, this band having a dat seat 2l machined thereon to receive either a driving gear or brake drum or both. The wheel contour thus produced is machined to linished form in a lathe in any usual or suitable manner.

No are aware that certain of the :teatures of the invention may be employed with advantage apart Jfrom others and that various modifications may be resorted to without departing from the spirit of the invention and we therefore refer to the appended claims rather than to the foregoing description to indicate the scope thereof.

Having described our invention what we claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent is t.

l. rlhe method 'of making wheels which consists in casting at a single operation the complete contour of a` wheel having two oppositely inclined sets of spokes, the spokes ot' the two sets joining the rim in substantially spaced apart relation and joining the hub spaced farther apart, and permitting the casting to cool with a self equalization and taking up of shrinkage stresses whereby cracking' of lspokes on cooling is avoided.

Q. rl`he method o' making wheels which pri vpositely inclined sets of hollow consists in casting at a single operation the complete contour of a wheel having two oppositelyv inclined sets of spokes and a hollow arched rim, the spokes of the two sets joining' the inner web of said rim in substantially spaced apart relation in the direction of the wheel axis, and permitting the casting to cool gradually with a self equalization and taking up of shrinkage stresses whereby cracking of spokes on cooling is avoided.

3. The method of making wheels vwhich consists in casting at a single operation the complete contour of a wheel having two opspokes in alternating relation about the wheel, the spokes of the two sets joining the rim in substantially spaced apart relation in the direction of the wheel axis and joining the hub spaced farther apart, and permitting the gradual cooling of the casting in a manner to permit equalization and taking-up of shrinkage stresses whereby cracking of spokes on cooling is avoided. i

f4. A11-integral cast wheel having two oppositely inclined sets of spokes joining the rim 4in substantially spaced apart separa-ted planes at each side of the wheel centerand joining the hub in planes farther apart, whereby shrinking stresses are dissipated.

5. An integral cast wheel having two set-s of spokes with the spokes of one set staggered with respect to those of the other set, the two sets joining the rim in substantially spaced apart separated planes, and joining the hub at a farther distance apart, whereby shrinking stresses are equalized and dissiated.

p 6. An integral cast wheel having a relatively wide rim and hub with two sets of spokes oppositely inclined and stagg red in respect to each other, said two sets joining the rim in substantially spaced apart relation at each side of the wheel center, and joining the hub at a farther distance apart for the purpose stated.

7. An integral cast wheel, comprising a l i l l l l relatively wide rim and hub, and two sets of oppositely inclined spokes joining the rim and hub in spaced apart relation, the junction points of the two sets with the riin being' a substantial distance apart, said spokes being oblong with their' longest cross section in the direction of the wheel axis, and meansI integral with said spokes for mutually tying and interbracing one set of the spokes t0- gether.

8. An integral cast wheel comprising a relatively wide rim and hub, said rim being of hollow arched box cross section, and two sets of oppositely inclined spokes joining the rim and hub in spaced apart relation, the junction planes of the two sets with the rinuI being a substantial distance apart.

9. An integral cast wheel having a .relatively wide riui of hollow box cross-section with web portions joining the tread with the inner wall of the rim intermediate the width thereof.

l0. An integral cast wheel comprising a hub, a relatively wide rim of hollow box cross-section, said rini being composed of relatively thin inner and outer walls with yweb portions joining said inner and outer the width of the rim and the hub with the inner wall walls intermediate spokes joining` of the rim.

ll. An integral lcast wheel having a relatiret'` wide rini of hollow box cross-section with relatively thin inner' and outer walls and web portions joining said inner and outer walls intermediate the width of the rim, said outer wall forming a substauti ally flat tread, and the sides ofthe rim being drilled to receive tire bolts therethrough.

ln testimony whereof, we have signed our names to this specification, in` the presence of two subscribing witnesses.

WILLIAM C. J O N SON JOHN lV. JOHNS N.

lVitnesses:

C. A. Roenes, Louise JORDAN. 

